Department for Transport

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Lord Swire: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with local authorities about drone corridors.

Lord Swire: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) the Country Land and Business Association, (2) the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales, and (3) other relevant countryside bodies, about drone corridors.

Lord Swire: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will provide an update on Project Skyway.

Lord Swire: To ask His Majesty's Government what rights of appeal (1) house owners, and (2) landowners, will have on the designation of drone corridors.

Lord Swire: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they havehad with aviation bodies about drone corridors.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: Drone corridors do not currently exist as a defined term or policy. Current work to further the potential of drone operations is focused on enabling Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations and the integration of new airspace users - including drones - into the UK’s airspace. Current airspace change policy (the CAP 1616 process) requires that any permanent change is done following consultation with affected stakeholders, including those on the ground. This CAP 1616 process is required for any change to airspace design, including in the event of the proposed establishment of corridors to support drone operations. Any permanent proposed change would also need to be consistent with the overall developing Airspace Modernisation Strategy - widely consulted upon and due to be published in the coming weeks. Project Skyway is a project that is part of a UKRI Challenge Fund, the Future Flight Challenge (FFC). Project Skyway has received public funding and has been developed and progressed by private companies. Any drone demonstration project under the FFC must comply with current regulation, and the outputs of all FFC projects will then be used to inform detailed policy and further regulation. The guiding input principles have been to develop the industry by bringing together diverse groups of stakeholders such as local authorities, technology innovators and end users such as the NHS. The projects have been designed to push regulatory boundaries to enable the industry to provide the resultant connectivity, economic and environmental benefits to the UK. Government is engaging with local authorities to discuss these new flight technologies. Many FFC projects include local authorities, and Project Skyway includes Oxfordshire County Council, Coventry Country Council and Reading Borough Council.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to integrate payments for electric vehicle charging into parking payments as part of their policy to simplify the structure of electric vehicle parking in the UK.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Government has no current plans to require electric vehicle charging to be integrated into parking payments. However, the Government will be laying regulations early this year designed to make the consumer experience of chargepoints simple and seamless. The regulations will mandate a pricing metric, to ensure pricing transparency, in addition to simplified payment methods, including contactless and payment roaming. To ensure that lack of off-street parking is not a barrier to owning a plug-in vehicle, the Government is supporting chargepoint provision through its Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund and On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme, which both provide funding to local authorities to extend charging infrastructure for their residents.

Railways: Passengers

Lord Berkeley: To ask His Majesty's Government what growth in rail passenger numbers along the main line between Penzance and Plymouth was achieved by the introduction of a 30-minute frequency service prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: We do not have a complete set of data to present at this time. We have asked Great Western Railway to write to the Noble Lord when the information is available and this information will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Climate Change

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Callanan on 16 December 2022 (HL3971), what estimate they have made of the difference in cost to the UK between following the advice of the World Climate Declaration, and following the advice of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Lord Callanan: The UK Government has not assessed the cost to the UK of following the advice of the World Climate Declaration. The IPCC does not make specific policy recommendations or directly advise governments so it is not possible to make an assessment of the costs of their advice. The IPCC's assessments are used on an ongoing basis to inform government decision making, including the HMT Net Zero Review, published alongside the Net Zero Strategy in autumn 2021. This analysed the costs and benefits of the transition and showed that the costs of global inaction significantly outweigh the costs of climate action.

Housing: Energy

Lord Allen of Kensington: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 17 November (HL3182), what arrangements they have put in place to ensure that those who (1) do not have the digital literacy skills, and(2) are without internet access, can access the same impartial and tailored advice that users of the digitally led service can receive.

Lord Callanan: The Government has provided a digital assist service for the energy advice tool on GOV.UK for those without digital literacy skills or internet access. Later this year, we will provide further support through a free retrofit phoneline for consumers in England to access tailored and impartial information about how to improve the energy performance of their homes. In addition, the Government will launch a series of local demonstrator projects, which will test various approaches to delivering in-person advice, with a particular focus on harder-to-treat properties and digitally excluded consumer groups. Lessons learnt from these projects will inform further action post-2025.

Nuclear Power Stations: Wales

Lord West of Spithead: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to build nuclear power stations atWylfa Newydd.

Lord Callanan: Great British Nuclear is being set up to develop a resilient pipeline of nuclear new builds in the UK. Wylfa is recognised as a strong site, among others, and will be considered as part of this process. Once decisions have been made on which sites to develop, timelines for build and operations will be established.

Industrial Relations

Lord Balfe: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to take into account the outcome of the Midland Cold Storage Ltd v Bernard Steer and others case of 1972 in their (1) ongoing review of the industrial relations legal framework, and (2) consideration of sanctions under any forthcoming legislation on industrial relations.

Lord Balfe: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to review the role and powers of the Official Solicitor to prevent the holder of that office from seeking to free persons imprisoned under industrial relations legislation as part of (1) their ongoing review of industrial relations legal framework, or (2) any forthcoming industrial relations legislation.

Lord Callanan: The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill will ensure crucial public services such as rail, ambulances, and fire services maintain a minimum service during industrial action, reducing risk to life and ensuring the public can still get to work. The Government is not planning to imminently introduce any further primary legislation in this area. The Government continually keeps the UK’s trade union legislation under review.

Business: Regulation

Lord Allen of Kensington: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 17 November 2022 (HL3179), what was the rationale for the decision to abolish the one-in-three-out policy.

Lord Callanan: The Government does not think a one-in-three-out rule is consistent with delivering world-class regulation to support the economy in adapting to a new wave of technological revolution or to achieving net zero. We absolutely want to reduce costs to business wherever we sensibly can, though we intend to do that by looking at the merits of each case rather than using a one-in, three-out system.

Department of Health and Social Care

Vaccination

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the health benefits of (1) COVID-19 vaccines, and (2) vaccines in general.

Lord Markham: The Department continues to use the best available evidence to demonstrate the health benefits of vaccinations at both a personal and population level and highlights these messages through regular media, stakeholder and social media engagement. The Department also works closely with both NHS England and UK Health Security Agency to develop vaccination guides and patient facing consent resources to demonstrate the benefits of vaccinations for all, as well as ensuring that reputable sources such as NHS.UK or GOV.UK are prominent and readily signposted.

Evusheld

The Lord Bishop of Exeter: To ask His Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of the cost effectiveness of Evusheld in the treatment of immuno-compromised persons with complex health needs against the cost of an admission to hospital,given theincreasein COVID-19 hospital admissions and the pressure on the NHS.

Lord Markham: The decision not to procure Evusheld for prevention through emergency routes is not based on cost considerations, but rather on independent clinical advice by RAPID C-19 (a multi-agency group) and a UK National Expert Policy Working Group. These groups considered a full range of evidence, including clinical trial data, in vitro analysis and emerging observational studies, as well as the epidemiological context of Omicron and wider policies in the Government’s pandemic response and recovery. Their conclusion is that there is insufficient evidence of benefit to recommend deployment at this time. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is now conducting a Health Technology Evaluation of Evusheld, which is the routine process for new medicines to be evaluated for clinical and cost effectiveness and will provide recommendations through NICE’s guidance on the use of Evusheld in the National Health Service.

NHS and Social Services: Sick Leave

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are takingto reduce health and social care workforce sickness absence.

Lord Markham: Local National Health Service leaders have been asked to consider the health and wellbeing of all staff as a priority and establish a preventive approach to health and wellbeing. A national growing occupational health and wellbeing programme has been launched to ensure a preventive, organisation-wide approach to health and wellbeing. In addition, all NHS staff have access to a free confidential text service and to the online Headspace and Unmind platforms until 31 December 2023.The NHS sickness absence toolkit provides advice to managers to support staff to return to work, including considering reasonable adjustments and discussing the direct causes of absence. For winter 2022/23, NHS organisations will support staff to prevent the transmission of respiratory illnesses and all frontline healthcare workers will be offered free COVID-19 and flu vaccines.The majority of care workers are employed by private sector providers which set pay and terms and conditions, independently of central Government. We are encouraging adult social care providers to invest in mental health and wellbeing services for staff. We will continue to work with the sector to ensure that wellbeing resources and best practice advice are available.

NHS: Staff

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask His Majesty's Government how many staff were employed in the NHS in (1) 2015, (2) 2018, (3) 2020, and (4) 2021.

Lord Markham: The table below shows the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) and headcount (HC) of staff employed in the National Health Service (NHS) in Hospital and Community Health Service settings as of December in each year requested: 2015201820202021Total staff (FTE)1,019,6771,082,9781,170,7711,212,478Total staff (HC)1,156,6621,226,3621,319,0101,362,335Source: NHS Digital Monthly Workforce StatisticsHospital and Community Health Services include staff working in hospital trusts and commissioning bodies, but excludes staff working in primary care, general practitioner surgeries, local authorities, and other bodies providing NHS funded care.

NHS: Staff

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask His Majesty's Government how many staff retired from the NHS in (1) 2015, (2) 2018, (3) 2020, and (4) 2021.

Lord Markham: The table below shows the headcount of staff who worked in Hospital and Community Health Service settings, and who have a ‘retired’ reason for leaving in the Electronic Staff Record for 2015, 2018, 2020, and 2021.2015201820202021All retirement related reasons for leaving27,15326,20128,70731,405Of which flexible retirement3,4914,0104,7955,079Source: NHS DigitalStaff who retire may later return to National Health Service (NHS) employment. More specifically, staff recorded as flexi-retirement would be expected to return to NHS employment working hours on a different contract.

Hospital Beds

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government how the urgent action promised by the Prime Minister on 3 January to increase NHS hospital bed stock by 7,000 will be achieved; and by when.

Lord Markham: The winter plan set out a commitment to increase general and acute bed capacity by the equivalent of at least 7,000 beds, through a mix of new physical beds and innovative virtual wards. NHS England report that additional capacity has continued to be put in place across the winter period and that the Nation Health Service is on track to deliver the total additional beds by the end of March this year.

Department for Education

Mathematics: Education

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the additional resource costs ofensuring that all school pupils in England study mathematics until the age of 18.

Baroness Barran: The government is currently considering options for the delivery of my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s ambition for all young people to study mathematics up to age 18. Further detail will be set out in due course.

Free School Meals

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of an increase in the number of pupils who are ineligible for free school meals being unable to afford lunch.

Baroness Barran: The Department is aware of these reports and continues to monitor current issues affecting families, such as the rising cost of living and the effect this is having on school food. In particular, the Department continues to keep free school meals (FSM) eligibility under review to ensure these meals are supporting those who most need them. FSM are currently provided to over one third of school children.

Special Educational Needs

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government when the process ofdigitising Education, Health and Care Plans will commence; and whether they have undertaken an impact assessment of this approach.

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government what their policy is regardingstandardising Education, Health and Care Plans to improve standards.

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government whether thedigitising of Education, Health and Care Plans will be undertaken by one centralised supplier; and how the procurement process will work.

Baroness Barran: In March 2022, the department published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, which sets out our proposals to ensure that every child and young person has their needs identified quickly and met consistently.In the green paper, the department proposed to introduce a standardised and digitised Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan process and template to minimise bureaucracy, deliver consistency and improve the experiences for families and professionals.The green paper consultation closed on 22 July 2022. We are currently reviewing the feedback received and using this, along with continued engagement with families, professionals, and other SEND system stakeholders, to inform the next stage of delivering improvements for children, young people and their families. This includes those steps set out on EHC Plans.The department is committed to publishing a full response to the green paper in an improvement plan early this year. We will continue to support the system in the immediate term to deliver change and continue to improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with SEND and those who need AP.

Apprentices: Living Wage

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that apprentices are paid the real Living Wage in 2023.

Baroness Barran: The department is committed to ensuring that apprentice pay supports the attraction and retention of talented individuals into apprenticeships. It is right that apprentices receive a wage which is fair and commensurate with the value and skills that they bring to their workplaces.We have taken steps to improve apprentice pay including aligning the apprentice national minimum wage rate with the national minimum wage rate for under 18s and accepting in full the recommendations of the independent Low Pay Commission to increase the apprentice national minimum wage by 9.7% from April 2023. This means an apprentice will be entitled to a minimum wage of at least £5.28 per hour in the first year of their apprenticeship. We are also continuing to work across government to tackle employer pay non-compliance and ensure apprentices receive the wages they are entitled to.Many employers choose to pay their apprentices more than national minimum wage rates recognising the value that apprentices bring to their workplace. Our data shows that average hourly pay for apprentices ranges between £8.23 for Level 2 and £14.02 for Level 6.

Education: Expenditure

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total spend in England on education for young people between the ages of three and 18 in 2020 (1) in cash terms, and (2) as a percentage of total government expenditure.

Baroness Barran: In the 2020/21 financial year, the department’s revenue funding for the 3 to 4-year-old universal and additional hours for the childcare entitlement was £3.1 billion. £51.5 billion was spent on school age pupils (5-16), and £6.2 billion on mainstream and high needs funding for 16-19 education in colleges, school sixth forms, and other institutions. In the 2020/21 financial year, the department’s revenue funding for apprenticeships for 16 to 18-year-olds was £500 million.In relation to capital funding, it is not possible to separate out funding for young people aged 3 to 18 from other capital funding. The majority of the department’s capital funding supports young people in this age group. In the 2020/21 financial year, the department’s total capital expenditure was £4.8 billion.In total, capital and revenue spend in England for these areas in the 2020/21 financial year was £66.2 billion.Total managed expenditure for the government in the 2020/21 financial year, as published in HM Treasury’s Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses, was £1,104 billion. The department’s expenditure to support young people in England, as outlined above, is 6% of total managed expenditure.

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Islam

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply byLord Bellamy on 10 January (HL Deb, col 1296), what research they have conducted on the impact of Muslim chaplains on (1) Islamism, and (2) non-Muslims, in prisons.

Lord Bellamy: Muslim Chaplains in prison play a central role in challenging Islamism through the delivery of HM Prison and Probation Service’s Tarbiyah programme. This has been independently peer-reviewed and provides prisoners with a nuanced and holistic understanding of the faith and is therefore a crucial protective factor against Islamist extremism. In addition, the Home Office commissioned an independent evaluation of the Desistence and Disengagement Programme (which includes a Theological and Ideological Intervention), which is expected to conclude this year. No research has been undertaken on the impact of Muslim Chaplains on non-Muslims in prison.Our Muslim Chaplains work closely with chaplains of all other faiths and beliefs in delivering HMPPS’ multi-faith model of chaplaincy support which includes the provision of non-religious pastoral care to prisoners and staff of all faiths and none. As set out in Prison Service Instruction 5/2016 (Faith and Pastoral Care of Prisoners) a prisoner or staff member may request support from a chaplain of a specific faith or belief if not the same as the duty chaplain which will be arranged as soon as possible if a chaplain of that denomination is not on duty at the time of request.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Transcaucasus: Roads

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the humanitarian impact of the blockade on Lachin Corridor between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Azerbaijan regarding the blockade of Lachin Corridorbetween Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK Government has made clear that the closure of the Lachin corridor during winter risks severe humanitarian consequences. Officials are in contact with humanitarian agencies, including the ICRC, about their assessment of the impact of the closure and the Government is a significant donor to agencies providing assistance on the ground. The Minister for Europe, Leo Docherty issued a statement highlighting the importance of re-opening the Lachin corridor on 13 December and our Ambassadors in the region and other senior UK officials have reinforced this message with key interlocutors. We also called for early resolution of this issue in our interventions in Vienna at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on 15 December and in New York at the UN Security Council on 20 December, where I also discussed this with the Foreign Minister of Armenia.

Armenia: Nagorno Karabakh

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of an Armenian genocide in Nagorno-Karabakh; and what steps they will take to reduce that risk.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK Government continues to monitor the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. The UK Government has repeatedly urged the Armenian and Azerbaijani Governments to thoroughly investigate all allegations of war crimes and other atrocities in recent years. It is essential all allegations of mistreatment, abuse and summary killings are urgently and fully investigated by the appropriate authorities.

Ukraine: Drugs

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government what medicines and medical products they have given to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: As part of the UK's £220 million programme of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and the region we have delivered over 11 million medical items. This includes 6.8 million doses of medicine - including antibiotics, pain relief and specialist medicines - as well as wound care supplies, personal protective equipment, ventilators, sterile needles, cannulas, bandages, specialist brain and spinal injury equipment, and over 70 ambulances. The UK has provided £300,000 to UK-Med to help train Ukrainian health workers deal with mass casualties and set up mobile health clinics for the most vulnerable civilians.

Israeli Settlements

The Lord Bishop of Southwark: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the government of Israel’s policy on the expansion of existing settlements and the construction of new settlements and outposts in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We are clear that settlements are illegal under international law and threaten the viability of a two-state solution. The UK urges the Government of Israel to permanently end its settlement expansion and settlement activity in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Israeli outposts in the West Bank are also illegal under international and Israeli law, and should be removed entirely. I reinforced this message during a visit to a UK donor funded school facing demolition on 12 January, in Masafer Yatta.

Jimmy Lai

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with authorities in Hong Kong regarding the legal representation of pro-democracy leader and British citizen Jimmy Lai; and whether the Prime Minister will meet Mr Lai’s lawyers.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We remain concerned about the targeting of pro-democracy figures, journalists and publishers in Hong Kong, and are following these cases carefully, including Jimmy Lai's. We will watch closely how the Chief Executive and Hong Kong authorities act to implement the 30 December interpretation of the National Security Law.The Minister for the Indo-Pacific, Rt Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, met with Mr Lai's international legal team on 10 January.

Ministry of Defence

Typhoon Aircraft

Lord Goddard of Stockport: To ask His Majesty's Government what is their current estimate of the support costs for Royal Air Force Typhoon aircraft per flying hour; and how this compares with the original estimate when the aircraft were procured.

Baroness Goldie: I refer the Noble Lord to the Answer I gave to the Noble Lord, Lord Moonie on 8 October 2020, to Question HL 8679. Support costs are based on engineering and support requirements and are not correlated with flying hours.TyTAN Typhoon aircraft programme (docx, 21.6KB)

F-35 Aircraft

Lord West of Spithead: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Goldie on 23 December 2022 (HL4271), which squadrons will provide the 36 F35B Lightning aircraft to meet the Full Operating Capability of the Carrier Strike operating within a Maritime Task Group configuration.

Baroness Goldie: No Squadrons, either fixed wing or rotary wing, are permanently assigned. It remains the case that each Queen Elizabeth-class carrier has been designed for the flexible usage necessary in a modern defence capability, including transporting a mix of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. However, the composition and size of an embarked air group in a deploying carrier will be tailored to meet the operational requirement.

Typhoon Aircraft

Lord Goddard of Stockport: To ask His Majesty's Government how many Typhoon aircraft were in service with the Royal Air Force at the end of 2022; how many were at readiness for use; and how many were in deep maintenance or mothballed.

Baroness Goldie: The number of aircraft in the Typhoon fleet as at 31 December 2022 broken down between the Forward and Sustainment Fleets is given below: Forward FleetSustainment FleetTotal9740137  The Forward Fleet comprises serviceable and short-term unserviceable aircraft. Typically, the short-term unserviceable fleet aircraft are undergoing minor works, forward maintenance or other unforeseen rectification or technical inspection that can arise on a day-to-day basis. The sustainment fleet includes aircraft airframes undergoing upgrade or maintenance or being held in storage. The number of aircraft varies day-to-day, according to normal flight management activities.

Typhoon Aircraft

Lord Goddard of Stockport: To ask His Majesty's Government how many hours were flown by Royal Air Force Typhoon aircraft during 2022.

Baroness Goldie: The number of hours flown by the RAF Typhoon fleet is given below: Financial YearFlying Hours12021-2221,3602022-23215,710 Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.1 April to 31 December 2022.

Home Office

Asylum: Rwanda

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask His Majesty's Government how many meetings have taken place of the Monitoring Committee set up under the (Rwandan) Migration and Economic Development Partnership; and whether its minutes will be published.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: A full meeting of the Monitoring Committee is being planned and details on this will be set out in due course. As set out in the terms of reference, the Monitoring Committee will produce a summary report for publication once a year.

Deportation

Lord Hylton: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the deportation of (1) convicted offenders, or (2) overstayers, to countries with no, or limited, health and welfare systems, is likely to result in destitution for those individuals.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: All individuals subject to removal from the UK are provided with the opportunity to raise claims, including medical claims, which are fully considered and determined before they are returned to their country of nationality or another country.Claims are carefully assessed on their individual merits and against a background of published country information notes and policy, which are available on Gov.UK.The Home Office provides financial assistance through the Facilitated Return and Assisted Voluntary Return schemes to support individuals to return to their home country.

Age Estimation Science Advisory Committee: Disclosure of Information

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Murray of Blidworth on 30 December 2022 (HL4257), whether they will now answer the question put, namely, what factors they will consider in deciding whether to publish the report of the Independent Age Estimation Advisory Committee.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: The report from the Age Estimation Science Advisory Committee was published on 10 January 2023. The Home Office will now consider the recommendations and will set out further details in due course.

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Lord Hylton: To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals have received payments from the Emergency Hardship Fund since it was set up following the Windrush scandal.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: In December 2018, the Home Office established an Urgent and Exceptional Payments (UEP) process under the Windrush Compensation Scheme. The policy has a very clear purpose to provide support to members of the Windrush cohort who have an urgent and exceptional need, where this cannot wait for the full compensation scheme decision.The Home Office are committed to providing support as quickly as possible where it is needed. The number of individuals issued with an Urgent and Exceptional Payment is not currently published, the Home Office are working to publish that information shortly. The total value of Urgent and Exceptional Payments approved is published and as at the end of November 2022, the total amount paid out was £239,836.46.

Windrush Lessons Learned Review

Lord Hylton: To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the 30 recommendations made by the Windrush Lessons Learned Commission have so far been implemented.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: In her report last year, Wendy Williams concluded that 21 of her recommendations have been met or partially met. She acknowledged that the scale of the challenge she set the department was significant and that change on this scale takes time.Since then, we have made further progress in delivering against Wendy Williams’ recommendations, including:In October 2022, the Home Office established the Office for the Independent Examiner of Complaints, and Moiram Ali was appointed as the Independent Examiner, subsequent to a public appointment recruitment process.The Home Office has held over 200 engagement and outreach events across the country and the Windrush Help Teams have attended over 120 one-to-one surgeries to help people apply for documentation.As of the end of October 2022, the Home Office had paid out or offered £59.58m in compensation to Windrush victims. In June 2022, the ‘Serving Diverse Communities – Acting on Our Values’ learning package was launched across the Home Office, this started with Recommendations 24 has been designed and is in the process of final review prior to implementation.

Migrants: Children

Lord Hylton: To ask His Majesty's Government whatestimate they have made of the number of children born and living in the UK who have no official residence status; and what plans they have to address those cases.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: We do not hold data on the number of children born in the UK who do not have regularised status. There are provisions within the Immigration Rules which allow children who have been born in the UK and are subject to immigration control to make an application and regularise their status. On 22 June 2022 the Private Life Rules were changed to make it easier for children and young adults in this position to gain settled status. When the parent or guardian is making an application to regularise their child’s status, they can apply for a fee waiver where they are unable to afford the application fee, are destitute or at risk of imminent destitution, or their income is not sufficient to meet the needs of their child.

Migrant Workers: Skilled Workers

Lord Allen of Kensington: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 21 December (HL4133), what are the “other migration issues” to whichhe referred.

Lord Allen of Kensington: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 21 December 2022 (HL4133), what changes they are considering to the workplan of the Migration Advisory Committee; and when they expect to publish changes to the workplan.

Lord Allen of Kensington: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 21 December 2022 (HL4133), when they expect the Migration Advisory Committee to restart their review of the Shortage Occupation List; and when they expect the Committee to report.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: The Government is considering its position on the topic of legal migration following the Office for National Statistics’ November publication of net migration estimates and in line with its manifesto commitments to bring overall numbers down. We will be setting out information on the Shortage Occupation List review shortly.

Veterans: Hong Kong

Lord Craig of Radley: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Murray of Blidworth on 7 December 2022 (HL3693), when they will reach the decision on whether to grant Hong Kong military service veterans entitlement to British citizens passports and right of abode in the UK.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: Parliament will be updated at the earliest opportunity.

Car Washes: Conditions of Employment

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take in response to the research by Nottingham Trent University which found that more than 90 per cent of hand car washes are likely to be employing workers illegally.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: Illegal working undercuts honest employers, puts vulnerable migrants at risk of exploitation, prevents legitimate job seekers from accessing employment and defrauds the public purse. Tackling this damaging crime remains a key priority and as the Prime Minister set out in his statement to Parliament on the 13th December we are increasing the number of illegal working raids by 50%.

Asylum: Rwanda

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask His Majesty's Government, following the comments by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 20 December 2022 (HL Deb cols 1072 and 1076), and by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 21 July 2022 (HL Deb col 2122),whether there are any circumstances in which unaccompanied asylum-seeking children could be removed to Rwanda; and if so, what they are.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children will not be considered for relocation to Rwanda under the MEDP, in line with our inadmissibility guidance.No one undergoing an age assessment, or legally challenging the outcome of an assessment, will be relocated until that process is fully concluded.Everyone considered for relocation will be screened and have access to legal advice. Decisions will be taken on a case-by-case basis, and nobody will be relocated if it is unsafe or inappropriate for them.

Migrants: Compensation

Lord Hylton: To ask His Majesty's Government what is the backlog of applications for full compensation following mistakes by the Home Office regarding migration or residence status.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: The Windrush Compensation Scheme was launched in April 2019 to compensate members of the Windrush generation and their families for the losses and impacts they have suffered as a result of being unable to demonstrate their lawful immigration status in the United Kingdom. The current number of claims that are awaiting a decision at all stages of the initial consideration process, referred to as ‘Work in Progress’ (WIP), for the Windrush Compensation Scheme is published in the Transparency Data release. The latest data was published on 13th January 2023 and can be found at: Windrush Compensation Scheme data: November 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The relevant page is WCS 05 - Total WIP and Age.

Migrants: Detainees

Lord Hylton: To ask His Majesty's Government how many persons are currently held in immigration detention.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: The Home Office publishes numbers of detainees in the Immigration Statistics quarterly release on gov.uk. The most recent published total of people in detention was for the end of September 2022, when there were 2,077 detainees held.For more information about how this data should be interpreted, please see the ‘About the statistics’ section of the release.

Cabinet Office

Metropolitan Police: Conduct

Lord Patten: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to postpone nominating any individual connected to the investigations into the conduct of 800 officers in the Metropolitan Police for (1) an honour, or (2) a life peerage.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: All honours are awarded on the basis of merit and checks are carried out at every stage of the process for an (1) honour and for a (2) life peerage. There are clear procedures in place to ensure the integrity of the independent assessment process. There are specific professional standards measures in place concerning police nominees. Robust probity checks for peerage nominations are conducted and assessed by the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

Integrated Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy Review

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to update theirGlobal Britain in a CompetitiveAge: The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy command paper,published in March 2021.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: As the Chancellor set out in the Autumn Statement, the Government is updating the Integrated Review. The date of publication for this will be confirmed in due course.

Treasury

Royal Mint: Non-fungible Tokens

Lord Sharkey: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the announcement on 4 April 2022 that the Royal Mint has been asked to create a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) in the summer of 2022, when this token is likely to be issued; and for what use this token is intended.

Lord Sharkey: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the announcement on 4 April 2022 that the Royal Mint has been asked to create a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) in the summer of 2022, how many public or civil servants, expressed as full-time equivalents (1) are, and (2) have, been working on this project; what costs have so far been incurred; what the projected total cost of this project is; and what value for money assessment has been carried out on this project.

Baroness Penn: The Government announced in April 2022 that the Royal Mint intended to create and issue a non-fungible token. The Royal Mint operates as a commercial business and the cost of designing and offering an NFT would be met entirely out of its own revenues. An update on this work will be provided in due course.

Small Businesses: Business Rates

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of removing rates relief on small businesses after the first quarter of 2023.

Baroness Penn: Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) is available to businesses with a single property below a set rateable value. Properties under £12,000 receive 100 per cent relief. There is also tapered support available to properties valued up to £15,000. Over a third of properties (700,000) already pay no business rates as a result of 100 per cent relief through SBRR, with an additional 121,000 in the taper. At Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a package of changes and tax cuts worth almost £13.6 billion over the next five years, many of which may be available for small businesses, including:a freeze to the business rates multiplier for 2023-24, a tax cut worth £9.3 billion over the next 5 years, meaning all bills are 6 per cent lower than without the freeze;an increased 75 per cent relief for retail, hospitality and leisure properties, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business for 2023-24. This is a tax cut worth over £2 billion for around 230,000 RHL businesses, to support the high street and protect small shops.an Exchequer funded Transitional Relief scheme worth £1.6 billion to protect an estimated 700,000 ratepayers facing bill increases due to increases in rateable value.a new Supporting Small Business scheme, providing over £500 million of support over the next three years. This will cap bill increases to £50 per month (£600 per year) for businesses losing some or all of their Small Business or Rural Rate Relief due to the revaluation.

Public Expenditure: EU Countries

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Penn on 4 January (HL4389), whether they will now answer the question put; namely, whether they will list in a single table in the answer to the question the constituent parts of the UK's financial commitments to the EU that the payment of c.£11bn sought to settle; and how much of that c.£11bn relates to each of those parts.

Baroness Penn: The European Union Finances Statement provides a breakdown of the purpose, timing and forecasts of material payments in relation to the financial settlement under the Withdrawal Agreement (WA), as well as other obligations, during the transition period. Editions from prior years and the most recent document for 2021 are available on gov.uk. Details of payments made up to the end of 2022 and an updated estimate of the financial settlement will be outlined in the next edition of the European Union Finances Statement 2022 which is planned to be published in 2023.

Betting: Politicians

Lord Lipsey: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 21 June 2022 (HL586) in which he stated that a review of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 would be published in the summer, why the review has not yet been published; whether they still intend to publish the review; and if so, when.

Baroness Penn: HM Treasury published the review of the UK’s AML/CFT (anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism) regulatory and supervisory regime on 24 June 2022, which included a review assessing the effectiveness of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.[1] [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-the-uks-amlcft-regulatory-and-supervisory-regime

Cash Dispensing: Fees and Charges

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to tackle the increased cost to people in deprived areas caused by the prevalence of pay-to-use cash machines in these areas.

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to introduce a statutory right to pay for goods and services in cash; and if so, whether this would be subject to financial limits.

Baroness Penn: Regarding cash machines specifically, LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator. LINK has committed to protect free-to-use ATMs more than one kilometre away from the next nearest free ATM or Post Office, and free access to cash on high streets (where there is a cluster of five or more retailers) that do not have a free-to-use ATM or a Post Office counter within one kilometre. More broadly, the government recognises that while the transition towards digital payments brings many opportunities, cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups. The government is currently taking legislation through Parliament as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill to protect access to cash across the UK. The Bill will establish the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash and provide it with appropriate powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities. The Bill requires the Treasury to publish a policy statement that sets out the government’s policy on cash access services. The Economic Secretary has stated that the policy statement would be the right place to consider matters such as location and cost. The FCA will be required to have regard to the Treasury’s policy statement when exercising its regulatory powers. In addition, the FCA will be able to exercise its powers in order to address local deficiencies in the provision of access to cash that it has identified and considers to be significant, and any wider issues it considers to be significant (which may include cost). With regards to cash acceptance, this remains a commercial decision for individual businesses and the government has no plans to mandate the acceptance of cash. However, the government’s view is that the Bill will support local businesses to continue accepting cash by ensuring they have reasonable access to deposit facilities.